HossC

Ireland's highest ever wind was recorded last night at 183km/h (114mph), beating the previous record of 182km/h set in 1945. Miraculously, despite all the damage, I've only seen one reported death - a driver was killed early this morning when a tree fell on his car in Co. Donegal.

I think we're in for a cold and wet weekend, but the worst has gone where I live. There are still a lot of people with power, and some without water.

The new Hughes fire is just north of Santa Clarita. It's only a couple of miles from Castaic Junction and Six Flags Magic Mountain, both of which were used as Dukes filming locations.

I lost power during the night and it's just come back (about 5 hours). They're saying that over 700,000 homes and businesses are without power in Ireland. Other than that, only one fence panel down. I'm heading out soon.

Everyone is battening down the hatches over here. All of the outdoor jobs where I work have been cancelled, and us office staff aren't due in until 10 if the red weather warning is over. All the schools are closed tomorrow, and most of the stores are shut until mid-morning. I know this is a regular occurrence in some states, but it's new to us in Ireland.

To lighten the mood, a couple of weather-related jokes (although they both involve death!):

Swedish astronomer, mathematician and physicist Anders Celsius died in 1744 aged 42.
His rival, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit claimed he was actually 107.

The inventor of the wind chill factor died recently.
He was 82, but felt like he was 64.

It's warmer than that here, although we're due to drop just below freezing point again on Friday. The real problem is the red weather warning for wind on Friday when 'Storm Éowyn will probably be among the "severest storms" that Ireland has ever seen'.

If we're going down that route, don't forget that God had an old Plymouth: for, as the Bible explicitly states, "God drove Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden in a Fury." 😂

And then there were the Old Testament British motorbikes: for example, "Joshua's Triumph was heard throughout the land" and, "The roar of Moses' Triumph is heard in the hills." 😂

Everyone is battening down the hatches over here. All of the outdoor jobs where I work have been cancelled, and us office staff aren't due in until 10 if the red weather warning is over. All the schools are closed tomorrow, and most of the stores are shut until mid-morning. I know this is a regular occurrence in some states, but it's new to us in Ireland.

To lighten the mood, a couple of weather-related jokes (although they both involve death!):

Swedish astronomer, mathematician and physicist Anders Celsius died in 1744 aged 42.
His rival, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit claimed he was actually 107.

The inventor of the wind chill factor died recently.
He was 82, but felt like he was 64.

It's warmer than that here, although we're due to drop just below freezing point again on Friday. The real problem is the red weather warning for wind on Friday when 'Storm Éowyn will probably be among the "severest storms" that Ireland has ever seen'.

Museum

(I visited the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA many years ago. It changed it name 10 years ago.)

US-based F1 team Haas has appointed the sport's female race engineer. Laura Muller will work with their new driver Esteban Ocon. Read more here.

Just to let people know, the playlists are not complete episodes or even episodes broken into parts. They seem to be a selection of short clips, some of which are only 7 seconds long.

Yes, they're used over here, although the weather websites generally put it as "RealFeel" or "Feels Like", e.g. Temperature today is 7°C RealFeel 3°C.

The Dukes of HAZZARD: HAZZARD in HOLLYWOOD

That didn't sound too bad until I remembered that you lot in the US still insist on using Fahrenheit! We only got down to around -8°C (18°F) in our cold snap a week ago, although over in parts of Scotland it was -16°C (3°F). We're now back to a far more reasonable 10°C (50°F) during the day.

Luckily, this SNL sketch explained America's way of doing things: 😀
 

EAGLE Point
Phil Ackley was Luke's old Marine buddy in 'The Great Hazzard Hijack'.

EAGLE Point
Phil Ackley was Luke's old Marine buddy in 'The Great Hazzard Hijack'.

That didn't sound too bad until I remembered that you lot in the US still insist on using Fahrenheit! We only got down to around -8°C (18°F) in our cold snap a week ago, although over in parts of Scotland it was -16°C (3°F). We're now back to a far more reasonable 10°C (50°F) during the day.

Luckily, this SNL sketch explained America's way of doing things: 😀
 

You're posting links to playlists, so they won't show up as anything but links. Only videos show up as pictures. It's probably best to leave the links as is seeing as they're only a collection of clips (I'd assumed they were whole episodes before I checked the link).

When I wrote this yesterday, I hadn't read about the Hurst Fire near Sylmar which is just south of Santa Clarita. This is only a couple of miles from some of the filming locations, but I don't think any have been affected so far. As I write this, the Hurst Fire is 89% contained.

Other than a few location shots for the Hollywood expeditions and location work at the Warner Ranch, Warner Bros. Studios was the only LA location used regularly for filming, and as far as I know that area north of the Hollywood Hills (home to many studios) is free from fire. All the movie ranches were around Santa Clarita or even further away.

BTW. The Warner Ranch, home to the Bewitched house and Friends fountain was razed in 2023 to make way for offices - see here.

When I wrote this yesterday, I hadn't read about the Hurst Fire near Sylmar which is just south of Santa Clarita. This is only a couple of miles from some of the filming locations, but I don't think any have been affected so far. As I write this, the Hurst Fire is 89% contained.

Other than a few location shots for the Hollywood expeditions and location work at the Warner Ranch, Warner Bros. Studios was the only LA location used regularly for filming, and as far as I know that area north of the Hollywood Hills (home to many studios) is free from fire. All the movie ranches were around Santa Clarita or even further away.

BTW. The Warner Ranch, home to the Bewitched house and Friends fountain was razed in 2023 to make way for offices - see here.

Other than a few location shots for the Hollywood expeditions and location work at the Warner Ranch, Warner Bros. Studios was the only LA location used regularly for filming, and as far as I know that area north of the Hollywood Hills (home to many studios) is free from fire. All the movie ranches were around Santa Clarita or even further away.

BTW. The Warner Ranch, home to the Bewitched house and Friends fountain was razed in 2023 to make way for offices - see here.

Casino
I've certainly heard of it over here, although I may not always use it correctly. With me and my friends, it may be said when someone wins something or gets some kind of bonus or bigger share, but we also say it when someone's actually having chicken for dinner.

The source of the phrase is disputed, but it's thought to be linked to gamblers in the US in the 1920s or 1930s. One version says that chicken dinners in a Las Vegas casino were $2, which was also the price of a standard bet - if you won your bet, you got your chicken dinner. I'm not sure how it crossed the Atlantic, but it was most likely in movies and TV shows.

Casino
I've certainly heard of it over here, although I may not always use it correctly. With me and my friends, it may be said when someone wins something or gets some kind of bonus or bigger share, but we also say it when someone's actually having chicken for dinner.

The source of the phrase is disputed, but it's thought to be linked to gamblers in the US in the 1920s or 1930s. One version says that chicken dinners in a Las Vegas casino were $2, which was also the price of a standard bet - if you won your bet, you got your chicken dinner. I'm not sure how it crossed the Atlantic, but it was most likely in movies and TV shows.